It’s not an exaggeration to say that the launch of the Chiappa Firearms Rhino revolver, back in 2009, brought the revolver concept straight into the 21st Century, with its distinctive design with the barrel aligned with the lower chamber of the cylinder rather than the upper one.

Such non-conventional architecture keeps the barrel more in line with the shooter’s hand, improving control; the barrel is shrouded in an aluminum tube that also includes a large sighting rib – a considerable amount of mass that contributes to keep recoil and muzzle climb to a minimum; and the hexagonal cylinder makes the overall design slimmer for more comfortable concealed and open carry.

Extremely controllable in all available calibers – from .357 Magnum and .38 Special all the way to 9mm and 10mm Auto – the Chiappa Firearms Rhino now comes in a bigger, meaner, more performing variant chambered for the legendary .44 Magnum cartridge.

The frame of the new Rhino .44 Magnum revolver is larger than its predecessors, sized enough to fit and handle .44 Magnum at the highest levels of pressure, but is still manufactured out of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy; it comes with an integral enlarged and curved trigger guard, and with two black steel finger stops and indexing points just above it.

The six-shot, hexagonal cylinder is CNC-machined out of steel; it is connected to the frame by a larger, stronger hinge, and features a completely different opening lever – the original push-down low-profile design having been replaced by a larger, flat black steel lever located in a more traditional position just behind the left recoil shield.

In order to get the best out of the powerful .44 Magnum cartridge in terms of stabilization and performance, the new Rhino revolver also comes with a 6-inch barrel (hence the denomination 60DS), which is shrouded in lightweight aluminum alloy. The sighting rib just above it is larger and visually different from its predecessors, with five wide windows.

Sights-wise, the new .44 Magnum Chiappa Firearms Rhino revolvers features a drift-adjustable red fiber optic front sight and a fully drift- and height-adjustable green fiber optic rear sight, topped by a full-length top MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail for optics. Another Picatinny rail is machined directly underneath the barrel, providing plenty of room for tactical accessories.

The .44 Magnum version of Chiappa’s Rhino retains the same double-action, internal-hammer trigger system as its predecessors, with an external crest that dubs as a manual cocking device for single-action shooting and a red indicator that will protrude from the top of the frame, just behind the rear sight, when the hammer is manually cocked.

On the .44 Magnum version, said crest has been radically redesigned and now looks more like a real hammer spur: larger, skeletonized, and with more clearance for better handling. Also new is the black rubberized grip, manufactured specifically by Hogue for Chiappa Firearms, featuring an aggressive slip-proof texture on both sides and deep finger grooves on the front strap.

Available in three colors – White Nickel, Black, and Gold – the new Chiappa Firearms Rhino 60DS .44 Magnum isn’t just the world’s lightest revolver in that caliber and barrel length, but also by far the most custom-ready: it remains fully compatible with all Rhino series grips, allowing users to tailor the look and feel of their gun at will depending on the task at hand; and drop-in trigger kits will be made available to replace the factory trigger with a lighter, smoother variant for competition shooting.

The new Chiappa Rhino revolver in .44 Magnum has just been announced, but the official launch will take place in the United States at SHOT Show 2026. For more information, visit the new official website www.chiappausa.com.